1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid pasteurizing apparatus and a method thereof for pasteurizing liquid, such as drinking water, beverages such as juice or beer, or water for industry use, and in particular, to a continuous pasteurizing apparatus and a method therefor that is able to continuously pasteurize such liquids which are supplied continuously.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, for disinfecting or pasteurizing liquid such as drinking water or the like, methods of boiling water by heating thereof or putting disinfectant or germicide into the water are already widely known and actually practiced. However, these methods have drawbacks in that sometimes sufficient effect cannot be obtained therewith, and further these methods sometime adversely affect even necessary constituents (e.g. vitamins, etc.) in the processed liquids.
Recently, attention was paid to a method in which the liquid is pasteurized by applying a strong electric field obtained between electrodes positioned close to each other, to which alternating current (AC) voltage is applied, and this method is taught in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 10-40133 (1998).
In the method proposed in the above-mentioned patent application, an opening is formed in a wall surf ace of an insulating material forming part of a liquid passage, and in this opening there are provided at least a pair of electrode wires extending horizontally, to which the AC voltage is applied.
The above-mentioned pasteurizing method in which the liquid passes within the high electric field, although effective against many kinds of bacteria or microbes, is not fully effective as a pasteurizing method for microbes or bacteria having heat-resistance and/or pressure-resistance, such as sporangium, etc.